Conditioning air in railway cars



Aug. 110, 1937. J. o. ROSS ET AL CONDITIONING AIR IN RAILWAY CARS FiledOct. 12, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTRS 2 41 0. /?u

.s BYCLZW 6M ATTORNEY Aug, 30, m7; 0, R955 ET AL 2,089,428

CONDITIONING AIR IN RAILWAY CARS Filed 001;. 12, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 5L 14' M23 M y 15' M M 51 i I (y/l/ 25 4 Z'L w ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 10,1937 UNITED STATES YCONDITIONING AIR 1N amwar cans John 0. Ross, NewYork, N. Y., and Clarence C. Hunicke, Palisade, N. J.

Application October 12, 1933, Serial No. 693,306

3 Claims.

This invention relates to the conditioning of air in railway cars,vehicles, buildings and the like.

In providing for the comfort of passengers in 5 railway cars, busses andthe like, certain difficulties are encountered which hinder the adoptionof the usual air conditioning systems.- In the first place there is verylittle free space that can be utilized for the necessary cooling towers,spray 10 chambers and refrigeration apparatus. In the second place theaddition of a cooling system to each car means the addition of moreweight and considerable additional cost of installation. The threeprincipal elements for comfort in connec- 15 tion with atmospheresurrounding a human being are temperature of the air, movement of theair with respect to the human being and relative humidity. As thepassengers in a railway car are the greater part of the time seatedrelative go humidity is of'lesser importance than temperature.Ventilators and fans may accomplish movement of the air within the carso that the necessary element that requires control is temperature. Inthe railway cars of today means.

5 are provided for the heating of the cars but with few exceptions nomeans are provided for the cooling of the cars. Only a small proportionof the days of a year necessitate cooling of the car atmosphere for thecomfort of the passengers.

Hence, it is not desirable for the balance of the year to haul apparatusinstalled in-the car that is not required as such weight increases thehaulage cost.

One of the objects of this invention is to pro- 35 vide means for. thecooling of a railway car, bus or other'vehicle or human habitation.

' A further object of the invention is to provide replaceable means inthe form of a gas or liquid which will cool the atmosphere in a railwaycar,

40 bus or vehicle or habitation.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a cooling systemfor human beings which will be cheap to install and will occupyrelatively small space.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a view partly diagrammatic, partly perspective and withparts broken out showing a device embodying the principles of ourinvention.

50 Figure 2 is a detail view in section of the liquid air expansioncones.

Figure 3 is a detail horizontal sectional view of a modified form ofdevice wherein a liquefied gas is used for cooling which is notdischarged 55 into the human enclosure.

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view showing the cooling circuit.

In carrying out our invention we propose to utilize liquid air, solidcarbon dioxide or other refrigerants that become a gas upon the ab- 5sorption of heat units. We prefer liquid air since this can be allowedto escape into the car without danger to the passengers. We propose toprovide racks under the car to hold a plurality of liquid air bottles Iconnected up to a header 2, each having separate valves 3, 3. In theline at another convenient place we provide a reducing valve 4. Aconduit 5 from the reducing valve leads to a discharge stationconsisting of a container 6 in the ceiling in the interior of the car. Avalve 1 thermostatically controlled permits the escape of the liquid airinto the outlet devices. Beyond valve 1 the conduit is formed into coils8, 8', and terminates in a nozzle 9. A series of expanding cones l0extend from nozzle 9 within container 6. The expanding cold air drawsair from the hot upper atmosphere of the car into the container 6 tocause intermingling and the subsequent discharge of the liquid air gasintermingled with the atmospheric air. A drain ll and drain pipe I! areprovided at the bottom of the container to remove the moisture given offby the cooled atmospheric air. The use of the expanding cones with theouter shell, commingles the return air and the expanded liquid air,prevents the formation of frost or snow on the outer shell and reducesnoise. The air blown out of the container being colder than the at--mospheric air in the train has a tendency to fall somewhat similar tothe fall of rain within the car. The distributing units instead of beingone central unit may be multiplied so that three or four unitslengthwise of the car may be used.

Or as shown the unit discharges in both directions lengthwise of thecar.

It is of course possible to maintain any desired temperature during thesummer but it is only proposed to maintain the 'temperature within a carten degrees cooler than the outside air, since the physical shock topassengers entering the train and leaving the train is too great if thetemperature difference is much over ten degrees. Liquid air provides asupply of veryi dry air. The relative humidity of the recirculatedatmospheric air of the car will be mate- I rially effected as well asthe temperature. Both temperature and relative humidity will be reducedwithin the discharge unit and therefore in the car. The drain IIextending lengthwise of container 6 prevents the re-evaporation of 5 inuse.

the moisture from the recirculated atmospheric air, the bottom ofchamber .6 sloping to the drama The discharge conduits I3, I4, dividethe discharged air and conduct it in both directions lengthwise of thecar by means of the wall common to both conduits forming a separatingbaflle adjacent the mouth of the cones in.

We'propose to provide direction louvres I 5 manually operated by lever[6 to control the direction of discharge. These louvres also function tocontrol the volume. The usual gauge I! in line 5 from headers 2 isprovided so that the porter of the car may know when a cylinder hasbecome empty and may then close the valve 3 of the empty cylinder andopen the valve 3 of the next filled cylinder by means of any well knownmechanism such as flexible wire cables 22 connected to manuallyrotatable wheels l8, I9, 20, 2!. The gauge I1 and controls l8, I9, 20,2i, may be located at any convenient place in the car. The cylinders lare preferably located beneath the car to permit easy replacement at anystation when emptied. Valve l is controlled by the usual thermostaticcontrol 23. The cones l provide for the expansion of the liquid air andintermixing with the recirculated air from the car and reducingthenoise. Coils 8, 8', with the warm air passing between the coilsincreases the velocity of the ejector eiTect and at the same time therecir culated air is cooled loosing some of its moisture content whichis being continually drained oil to prevent re-evaporation. and alsoprevents freezing up of the discharge nozzle. The cooling effect of theliquid air is enhanced by a discharge through an orifice.

In the modified form shown in Figures 3 and 4, we propose to use anyform of solid or liquefied gas-such as dry ice thatabsorbs heat uponchanging to a gas As most of these gases Y that can be commerciallyliquefied are not benemanually rotatable wheels l8, I9. A gauge may arejointly operated and controlled by thermostat 23'. control of thetemperature without the necessity of a complicated refrigerationmachine. The cooling gas may be admitted to the lower coil or to theupper coil or to both and the rate of discharge determines thedehumidifying effect. In other words, the temperature of the coolingmedium primarily determines the dehumidification. Also the'temperatureof the coils determines the cooling effectl By the use of the by-passindependent control of the relative humidity and temperature can beaccomplished.

The temperature of the coils may be sufliciently reduced to condense themoisture in the return air in any desired degree and the return air canbe utilized through the by-passes 3| to heat the air to the desiredtemperature.

If conditions warrant in the preferred form the by-passes and the fanmay be used in addi-' tion. V

In the preferred'form the liquefied air that is introduced into theenclosure is in a purer state with respect to germs and other impuritiesthan would be the case in most instances with the introduction of freshair. It is particularly true in the case of railway cars wherein the airsurrounding the train is generally laden with -soot and carbon particlesfront the engine.

be used as shown in Figure 1 at H if desired.

The gas is led from the header 2' through pipe to coils 8" and 8'Thermostats 23', 23" in each branch line control the amount of coolingmedium to the cooling surfaces. The return air from the enclosureisdrawn through coils 8" and 8" by fan 25 driven by motor 26 and isdischarged through conduits l3, l4. The same direction louvres may beutilized to direct the flow as desired and also function to cut down thenow. Under certain conditions it may be desirable to by-pass a part ofthe return air around the cooling unit to raise the temperature of thetreated air in order not to have too cold a mixture being dischargedinto the enclosure. sary at night time when the upper berths are Where afan is used the condensation falling on the bottom of the container andinto conduit I I may be picked up in water particles and hence weprovide eliminator plates 21.

I The discharge pipe 28 for the coils 8" and 8" has a valve 29 which canbe controlled either.

manually or thermostatically'by the joint action of thermostats 23',23". The louvres 30 This might be particularly necesor solidified gas.

The device may also be used in homes and in industry wherever a supplyof liquid air can be secured .and. wherever it is desired to reducetemperature and humidity.

method and apparatus for reducing the temperature of an enclosureyandits relative humidity bymeans of a very simple device using a source ofsupplyof air which will be practically germ free and which will be cheapto install without the expense of distribution fans, motors, compressorsand other refrigerating machinery.

What we claim is:

1.'A method of controlling temperature and humidity of air for humancomfort in an enclosure such as a railway car, vehicle, boat, buildingor the" like, comprising the steps of causing evaporation of liquid airwhile conducting the same through a predetermined path, discharging theevaporated air in the form of a jet and utilizing the energy of thedischarging jet of air to draw air from the enclosure and over the pathin heat exchange relation with the evaporating liquid air, and directingthe jet to produce an intermingling with the air from the enclosure,

The modified form provides of a close emitting the intermingled air intothe enclosure,

and controlling the quantity of liquid air evaporated, by thetemperature conditions of the air of the enclosure.

2. A method of conditioning air for human comfort in an enclosure suchas a railway car, vehicle, boat, building, or the like comprising thesteps of causing the admission of a liquefied gas as a'cooling medium toa path that is surrounded by but separated from a moving current ofatmospheric air, causing the evaporation of the liquefied gas, and thepassage of the liquefied gas while evaporating and the resultant gasthrough said path in heat exchange relation with said current 40 It willthus be seen that we have invented a V aoeacaa of moving air,controlling the quantity of liquefied gas admitted to said path tocontrol the temperature and humidity of said moving current of air,discharging the gas from said path into said moving current of air,utilizing the force of the discharging gas to motivate said movingcurrent of air and to cause a mixture of the air of said current and thedischarging gas and to direct said mixture in a predetermined directioninto the enclosure.

3. A method of conditioning air for human comfort in an enclosurecomprising the steps of supplying from replaceable portable supplies,liquid refrigerants which pass into the gaseous state when permitted toevaporate, causing evaporation of said liquid refrigerants at a pointisolated from the supply, surrounding the liquid refrigerants whileevaporating and the gases resulting from the evaporation with a currentof atmospheric air to condition said atmospheric air, while maintainingthe liquid and gaseous refrigerants in heat exchange relation with butpreventing them from intermixing with said atmospheric air, then mixingthe gaseous refrigerants and the conditioning atmospheric air, thendischarging the mixture into said enclosure and causing the expansion ofthe refrigerants to motivate the gaseous refrigerants and the current ofatmospheric air in the mixing process of said gaseous refrigerants andsaid atmospheric air.

JOHN O. ROSS.

CLARENCE C. HUNICKE.

